All items: Duty of care

In Alexander and others v Midland Bank plc, the Court of Appeal upholds the decision of the trial court that five data encoders developed work-related upper-limb disorders (WRULDs) caused by repetitive work under intensive pressure, insufficient work breaks and poor arm posture.

With cases of work-related upper-limb disorder continuing to reach the courts, it is worth reviewing one of the most high-profile cases to come to trial over recent years. The High Court judgment of July 1998 in Amosu and others vs the Financial Times recalls the days when there was great and heated debate over the term "RSI" and whether any such condition existed.

In Andrews v Initial Cleaning Services Ltd and McDougall's Catering Foods Ltd, the Court of Appeal explains why a cleaning contractor, rather than the occupier of the building being cleaned, was more to blame for an injury suffered by a cleaner.

The Court of Appeal has refused to move away from the principle of identification which restricts the prosecution of companies for manslaughter. Ruling that the law is clear from consistent application in previous cases, the Court of Appeal dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the trial judge's refusal to allow charges of corporate manslaughter against Great Western Trains arising from the Southall rail crash in September 1997.

In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal ruled that January 1978 should be the date from which employers may be statutorily liable for noise-induced hearing loss caused by exposure to noise below 90dB(A).

In Barber v Somerset County Council [2004] IRLR 475 HL, the House of Lords held that the Court of Appeal had erred in allowing the employers' appeal against the finding of the judge in the County Court that the employers were liable for the claimant teacher's psychiatric illness brought about by the stresses and pressures of his workload.

The House of Lords has upheld an appeal by former teacher Leon Alan Barber against a Court of Appeal decision in 2002 that quashed the damages he had been awarded for stress. The Lords awarded Barber £72,547.

In Barker v Saint Gobain Pipelines plc, the Court of Appeal held that the former employer of a man who died of mesothelioma after exposure to asbestos dust during his employment was liable to pay his widow damages, notwithstanding that he was also exposed to the dust on three occasions when he was self-employed.

Continuing our regular series on the implications of recent significant cases. Sue Nickson, partner and head of employment law at Hammond Suddards Edge, looks at the issues, including equal pay, stress and clear covenants.

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